WHITING — Garrett Law loves history, so it’s not surprising that he decided to run a general store in the traditional way. He turned to a spot in Whiting that had been a store serving the community for most of that last 150 years.

Law and his staff of employees — “six if you count the guy who shoveled the snow,” he said — re-opened the Whiting General Store this past Friday, Jan. 31.

People are excited to have a general store in town.

“We had, oh, 100 people” before 1 o’clock on opening day,” said Rani Fallon, who was running the cash register.

It made Law smile to see so many people. This was the idea he was aiming for with the store — to get people in a community together live and in person.

“In an age when people engage so often in electronic communication online, the ability to have a place to meet and engage with people in person, face to face, is really important,” he said.

THE NEW WHITING General Stores at 3 Main St. opened this past Friday at the spot that has seen various general stores operate for much of the last century and a half.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

The Whiting General Store, which is the same building as Whiting’s U.S. Post Office, looks to combine the best of traditional general store provisions, with some contemporary updates.

The Freegard family ran a store in this spot beginning in 1912. Then it passed on to the Villeneuve family in the 1930s. Jerry Villeneuve, who was 4 years old when his family took over proprietorship, showed up on last Friday’s opening day of the new store.

Pat and Chuck Pope, who ran the store beginning in the late 1980s, eventually turned it into an antique shop. In the late 1990s, Ellen Kurrelmeyer and John Travis opened Bulwagga Books in the store and ran it for many years. Now Law has returned the space to its previous incarnations as a general store.

Law started out his life in Vernon, N.Y., and began visiting Vermont with his family when he was 5 years old.

He studied engineering and the History of Science at Harvard.

Law helped launch Global Outsight — a biotech and media strategy and mergers and acquisitions consultancy in Cambridge, Mass. — and was on the staff of the mayor of Boston as the analyst for the Boston Fire Department.

Eventually he landed at KHIZ-TV Los Angeles, where he was the youngest general manager in the huge LA television market. He oversaw all operations of the station and company, executing its successful turnaround and engineering overhaul.

In 2008, he helped found a hospitality business called Attention Span Media, where he worked with such food makers as Hormel.

Law has the Vermont background in Barre, but didn’t have direct ties to Addison County before buying the Whiting place. But his business partner, Peter White, has relatives in Shoreham, he said.

WHITING GENERAL STORE owner Garrett Law smiles as he rings up a sale to 11-year-old Bailey Wilbur, right, and her mom, Tiffany, this past Friday.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

To start, the Whiting General Store will be open weekdays 6 a.m.-6 p.m., Saturdays 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sundays 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

Law said he looks forward to talking with everyone in the coming days and weeks, learning more about how to best serve the town. He will consider suggestions and requests for products that people want him to carry.

Law said he would consider this business a success if he could “make this a necessity and a fun place to visit.”

At the opening, one fun thing he was selling was Valentine’s gift bags, which sat right near the front door. Among the unique things for sale are his mom’s handmade greeting cards.

He said he loves watching little kids shine as they pick out candy to buy from the wide assortment that the store has on stock.

“Seeing kids pointing and being excited is a lot of fun,” Law said.